Blockbuster Season Review Talking Movies

Hello, and welcome to Talking Movies. I am Tom Brook. In today's

programme, as people here in New York gathered to watch a movie

outdoors, we report on America's blockbuster season, as the finish

line approaches. What were the successes? Wonder woman, Guardians

of the Galaxy volume two, and Spider-Man homecoming must count

among them, but with so many uninspiring sequels there was a lot

of franchise fatigue. It seems like lately that is the only thing that

is coming out, and I want to see more creative content. And among the

summer movies inspired by real events, Detroit, a report on the

debate it revived over who was really qualified to tell black

stories. Directors from other races don't know how to properly showcase

like men and women living full lives. Then this summer's sleeper

hits at the American box office. We look at one film that really broke

new ground. As well as the sleeper hits of yesteryear. All that and

more in this special blockbuster season review edition of talking

movies. The big story at the American box office this summer was

wonder woman, the first superhero blockbuster to be directed by a

woman and make more money than any other summer film. Before we delve

deeper into the picture, let's cast our minds back to Wonder Woman, with

this review from BBC culture film critic Karen James. She is an

anti-war feminist. She deflects bullets with her bracelets. She has

a sword tucked into the back of her evening down. All that, and she is

the superheroine of a thoroughly entertaining action movie. She is a

princess named Diana, raised on an island off Amazon Warriors. When a

plane crash as she reinvents the Princess Meth, rescuing her Prince

Charming, an American intelligence officer played by Chris Pyne. Gal

Gadot is terrific as Diana, charismatic and fierce. She and Pine

bring a lot of deadpan wit to their romance. But what really sets this

Wonder Woman apart from other superheroes is the sense of idealism

and wonder Gal Gadot brings to the role. Whether her action sequences

are set in the trenches of World War I or a bomb factory, they are crisp

and lucid, dynamic, such a relief from the dark model of so many

superhero movies. Why has Wonder Woman been such a big success, and

will it leave a lasting impact on the movie landscape? To find out I

sought the opinion of buzz feed film news critic Alison Willmore. Well,

it was the first hugely successful female superhero movie. They have

been ones in the past, attempts like Catwoman and Electra. But this was

the first one to be an unqualified financial success. It has been

proof, if proof is required, that a female lead superhero movie can have

mass appeal. Many women reported having quite an emotional response

when they watched Wonder Woman. What did the film give them that perhaps

other films had not given them? I think that what wonder woman has

given audiences, particularly female audiences, is this representation of

themselves on screen. To be able to see this character kind of step onto

a battlefield in the best seen in the movie, and commit herself to

this act of kind of unqualified heroism. And there is something that

is very moving about seeing a female character be put in the spotlight

like that, in a genre that we have gotten very familiar with. So I

think that there is certainly this feeling of a boundary being crossed.

How instrumental was Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman, to its

success? One of the things that is really refreshing about this movie

is not just that it is so grounded in a female character and female

experience, but that it looks at her without having to kind of, like,

filter her through a Mail perspective, or filter her through

the experiences of her love interest, played by Chris Pyne. So I

think that that is something that you really sense with having a

female director behind the camera. How can a woman fight in this? Many

Hollywood executives used to say that men would not go to a superhero

movie if there was a female protagonists. But they have been

proved wrong with Wonder Woman, haven't they? You always see that

female lead movies and movies with actors of colour, there is this

burden on them, that they have to prove every time that these

properties are viable, that they are not niche. There is a lot of

pressure put on movies like this, that you are proof of a basic

concept, not just the film succeeding in its own right. So I

was really excited to see the success of Wonder Woman, and I am

really interested to see where that leads, but I always think about

something like Writes mates, which was a film which was supposed to

usher in a new era of female lead superhero films, and it didn't

really. Hollywood has been taught many lessons before about this, and

it never seems to stick. What will be the lasting impact of Wonder

Woman? There is going to be a sequel, but will it increase

opportunities for women in the film business across the board, do you

think I think that Wonder Woman is a big lesson. I just hope it is one

that studios take, both in terms of its director and in terms of its

main character. I think that just continued pressure from fans to say

that this is important to them, as important as seeing as female

superhero in front of the camera, I think that is what would make sure

that that continues to happen. This summer at the box office there were

several films inspired by real events, and director Christopher

Nolan's Dunkirk and Al Gore's documentary on climate change. Then

there was Detroit, a film based on the 1967 Detroit riots, directed by

Catherine Bigelow. It sparked a fair bit of debate which is still

ongoing. In Detroit, a city at war, violence continues. What is a black

film? Is it possible for white filmmakers in Hollywood to

adequately tell stories from a black respective? The film Detroit, set in

Detroit, Michigan, and directed by a Kathryn Bigelow, has reignited this

debate. The film depicts the Algiers motel incident where the cops during

the riot thought there was a sniper in the motel, and they went and

lined a bunch of people up against the wall, and kept them there for

hours, and terrorise them. And by the time the incident was over,

three African-Americans were dead. I got all night, people. The

centrepiece of the movie is the 45 minute long motel sequence. Some

have said that this is the most powerful part of the film, as it

gives a window into the nature of police brutality, which is still

present to this day. Others have said it is a nearly pornographic

lynching sequence, and has little value. Let's not be stupid in this

situation. The film was put together by a white director, Kathryn

Bigelow, and a white writer, Mark Boal. So it didn't feature any black

creators on the production team. I think the issue of who made this

film and whether it should have been black filmmakers is on the one hand

an important one to discuss, and to the extent that we need more

talented people who are African-Americans behind the camera.

On the other hand, it is a very dicey issue, and I think a very

slippery slope, when you have some people saying that a film of this

subject should not be made by white filmmakers. It seems like freedom of

expression means, to me, that people should be able to make works of art

about people of different races. It is a war zone out there. While there

has been a backlash about the race of the creative team behind Detroit,

white American film makers producing what may be considered black films

is not uncommon. One of the most notable examples is Steven

Spielberg's 1985 film the Colour Purple, adapted from Alice Walker's

novel, and is accepted as a black film. However, there are those who

upset that white filmmakers seem fixated on the oppression and

struggle of black people. I think sometimes directors from other races

don't know how to properly showcase black men and women living full

lives, outside of the racism and trauma that we endure. Can a white

director properly do that correctly? I don't doubt it. But it seems as if

Hollywood only knows us for a few things, and trauma and endurance is

one of them. Kathryn Bigelow and Anthony Mackie, who appears in the

film, both agree that the goal of the project was to start a

conversation. This film is a lot of black tragedy, and I don't know if

African-Americans, people of colour, need to see any more tragedy in

order for us to have a conversation about the very undeniable, systemic

racism that has built this country. Although Detroit has not performed

as well as expect that the box office this summer, it did cause

controversy about representation in film. There is no guarantee that the

movie would have been more successful if they were black

filmmakers behind the camera, but one could speculate that much more

of a conversation about the film would be focused on the quality of

the filmmaking, and the message it attempts to convey. Now, let's move

on to some of the other summer films. One sad reality is just how

bad they were. The fact reflect that in seasonal box office revenues,

which were several percentage points down on last year. The big problem,

Fran fatigue. More and more sequels underperforming. For we investigate

franchise fatigue further, let's look at one franchise sequel which

it is generally agreed worked well. Spider-Man Homecoming. The people

behind Spider-Man Homecoming have remembered something that makers of

almost every other recent superhero film have forgotten, that if you are

going to tell a story about someone in a colourful costume who can throw

bad guys around like they are frisbees, then it should probably be

fun for all the family. So never mind all the mass destruction and

cosmic Doomsday Device is that we usually get. This is a warm, fast

paced, coming-of-age comedy about a group of teenagers, one of whom

happens to have been bitten by radioactive arachnid. Spider-Man has

to struggle with the Vulture, played by Michael Keaton, who clears up all

the debris after the avengers' city wrecking battles. He built himself a

gigantic and surprisingly sinister set of robotic wings and goes into

the super villain business. The fact he is a savage killer but also an

ordinary, downtrodden working man, makes him one of the best baddies in

the Marvel rogues gallery. The only problem is that there is too much in

a two and a quarter hour film. It has too many characters and too many

action set pieces, none of which is as spectacular in the equivalent Sam

Remy films. Like its eager young protagonists, Spider-Man: Homecoming

tries a bit too hard and it sometimes stumbles. Well, what did

Spider-Man get right that enabled it to satisfy audiences, while other

franchise films fell short as Mac to investigate franchise fatigue, we

put together our own panel. Spiderman: Homecoming plays well

because it almost plays like a John Hughes comedy. Tom is almost of high

school age, so we really can capture teenage Peter Piper. Others were

pushing in their 30s and couldn't quite capture the same thing. It is

a wonderfully diverse cast and there are even some political points to

it. The actor who plays MJ has this wonderful moment when they are on a

school trip to Washington, DC and about to visit Washington monument

and she says, I don't want to go there because it was built by

slaves. It's like, this is a movie by Disney. They didn't have to put

that line in there. I think it's important to point out that while

Spiderman: Homecoming has done well, it's also as of now considered the

lowest grossing Spiderman movie out of all of them. So even though that

movie was a hit, there's still franchise fatigue. But the thing

that's drawing people into movies that are doing well, like Wonder

Woman, Spider Man, I think the Washington monument thing was a bit

too easy. At the same time, seeing these movies that tend to appeal

even more to people who are typically underrepresented, all of

that is contributing. I think you are right. With The Mummy, this

isn't a franchise yet but all of the press has been that they are

starting a franchise and you can fill the audience being like, gosh,

another one? It's going to be just drawing from Unviersal's classic

horror movie characters - Frankenstein, Dracula, doctor Jack

all. I don't think anyone is asking for that. It was one of the original

franchises. That was the thing back in the 20s, 30s and 40s. But, yeah,

we already saw the Brendan Fraser versions. I wonder if The Rock was

in this one it might have been better. I think we all agree

franchise fatigue is a problem. I went to the local cinema and asked

some people what they thought. What do you think about the fact that

there are so many franchises and C calls at the moment? I think it's a

little bit lazy. It seems like lately that's the only thing coming

out and I want to see more creative content. Things like Girls Trip. If

you are in charge of Hollywood what change would you make to make block

asked is better? Make it so that women feel more interactive and

maybe racial diversity within a block afters. That might widen the

SPAM. You think people have franchise fatigue? I think

mainstream America does not, but those who actually appreciate cinema

and what the movies are all used to be, definitively yes. Has there been

any blockbuster this is that has delivered for you? No. There just

isn't really a lot of enthusiasm there. That's the thing. Even with

us talking about Spider-Man: Homecoming, we all said we liked it

but none of us would say we loved it. Going into this year, I was

really getting tired of the Marvel cinematic universe. I think maybe

some of these block asked is art to male centric. If you look at the top

grossing films of the year, Beauty and the Beast, Wonder Woman, but not

many in this season. Hollywood is also very slow on the up take. They

did an ounce Wonder Woman sequel, so we will see about that. I think A

Wrinkle in Time will be a big deal. We have big actors. Oprah, and

others that black women will support. Do you think Hollywood will

change course or are we going to see Transformers movies until the end of

time? I don't think anything in Hollywood is ever truly dead. We are

in a circle now where it might take five years or a decade. I think with

Spider Man it only took three years. So long as they are familiar

properties and familiar to a modern audience, we are still going to get

these. I love that basically you are saying that the plot of The Mummy is

a metaphor for Hollywood. No matter how did it may seem, anything can

come back to life at some point. Hollywood loves familiarity, no

question about it. America in summertime almost always have a hit

and this year the one that can claim that title is The Big Sick. It is

the first romantic comedy to have a Muslim man as a leading man. It

breaks new ground. I think dating this girl. She is white. It is based

on a true Romance of the Pakistani actor and writer and comedian and

follows his courtship with his future wife, his parents' efforts to

force him into an arranged marriage with other women and his wife to

be's grave illness. It is cowritten by him and his real-life wife. It is

a blend of cross-cultural interaction. I've always wanted to

have a conversation with... You've never spoken to people about 9-11?

He is like the lead in any other romantic comedy, that it aims to

destigmatise Muslim Americans in the eyes of the public. That would be

ideal and great records Muslims need to be immortalised. I feel like

we've taken a bunch of steps back. So that would be a great, happy

side-effect of our movie. After years of negative media portrayals

of Muslims in cinema, there seems to be an evolution in the presentation.

The on-screen image of Muslims in entertainment is changing. This film

is playing a role. What has been lacking is nuance. Only one time of

Muslim is represented in the media. For a long time it was only one

type. The terrorist, the bad guy. The Big Sick represents the nuance

that already existing the country and by seeing that on the big screen

it's going to have a tremendous effect on the way we view ourselves

as a nation. I screwed up with your daughter. Yeah, you did. The Big

Sick is one of this summer's sleeper hits, but what about years past?

We've been looking back at some of the sleeper surprises that have

emerged over the decades. The summer block us to roll out

every year is pretty standard. Audiences are bombarded with

promotional trailers, teachers and merchandise to promote the budget

larger-than-life movies, specifically reserved for a

summertime release. But not for this type of movie. Sleeper hit is a

movie that opens quietly. It doesn't come in with a lot of publicity,

with a lot of buzz. It often doesn't have huge stars in it. And it gained

its popularity slowly, but steadily, and it just grows and grows and

stays in theatres for a long time. Sometimes it's a very little movie,

like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which a lot of people remember. Everyone

loved it and it stayed for a long time. But there are movies that

people just loved and went to see and continued to go and see and over

a period of time built up this myth about them. Are there any

similarities between movies that become sleeper hits? One thing that

always helps sleeper hits is if it serves an audience that's really not

being served by most of the movies out there. Mamma Mia had money

behind it. That was a Broadway musical. But they opened its

opposite The Dark Knight and people thought, this movie is going to get

killed. But it was just that all of the people who didn't want to see

The Dark Knight and wanted to see a movie about all the women who wanted

to see a musical, something comical, it really appealed to them. And over

the years, some of the sleeper hits have really appeal to audiences and

stayed in our hearts. Some critics think that the most successful

sleeper hits just have heart. It feels like it's one person's story,

one person's vision, whether that's the director or writer. You can feel

their personality in The Sixth Sense, the author's personality on

the screen in The Big Sick. Fast Times had a real persona, a human

touch. Even when these movies tend to be more slick and professional,

you feel something come through on the screen, sought from behind the

screen. Through the screen to you. Well, that's it. If you enjoy those

short reviews from BBC Culture earlier in the programme, you can

find more on the BBC website. There are reviews of The Dark Tower and

Detroit. From me and the rest of the Talking Movies production team,

goodbye. We leave you with a music sequence from Baby Driver, and other

superhit that emerged during blockbuster season. -- another.

We're looking ahead to the weekend weather prospects.

Let's delve into the weather menu and see what's on offer.